<p>My daughter is torn between attending New Paltz and Oneonta.
She is an education major... not a 'sports' type of girl. Leans more towards being artistic & creative writer type. </p>
<p>I am afraid New Paltz would be too 'clicky' because she is not an Art major, yet Oneonta seems more sports oriented...</p>
<p>I am assuming they both have their fair share of 'partying'...
So taking off the 'parent' hat and trying to understand where she would fit best and actually enjoy her education-- can anyone offer some truths and suggestions??
Thanks!</p>
<p>I don't know much about either school, but I can tell you that my friend is an education major at New Paltz (she's a junior now) and she absolutely loves it. I don't think she's ever felt left out because she wasn't an Art major. She says there's plenty to do and she feels very comfortable in the town. She considers the school her "home" and says she could not imagine being anywhere else. I would say that my friend cares a lot about her studies, but she is also very social and I think the school's fit her personality well.</p>
<p>If your daughter is more artsy I would definitely say New Paltz. I don't think her feelings about cliques will be founded since there are tons of students majoring in education there. I don't think it tends to be a cliquey school anyway and has a reputation of being very accepting of all types of students.</p>
<p>My son will be attending NP in Sept and was also debating between Oneonta ( his original 1st/main choice) & NP. He plans on a Business major. NP has a nice blend of different majors with a strong but not overwhelming edge to the Arts. I have friends with dtrs at both schools are all are happy but I will say the NP kids seem a litter more enthused/connected to their school.(sons GC also graduated from there and gave him much positive feedback). For us the proximity to Long Island is a plus. NP is also rated slightly higher by USNWR 38 vs 57 for Oneonta and the student teacher ratios seem a little smaller at NP. Both have nice campuses with maybe an edge to Oneonta. I think both have equal party reps. NP more diverse but still 98% NY with most down-staters. All in all both good schools comes down to feel/personal fit. Our 2nd visit for accepted students day where my son had the opportunity to speak with professors at the academic fair ( language dept, Economics and Business) was very helpful. We didn't get a "clicky" feel but that is hard to see on a one day visit but I suspect that it is no more/less then Oneonta might be. NP does have about 1000 more kids which I think would decrease the clique factor. How do her major depts compare, has she gone to the the 2 school's websites and checked out fauclty/creds, student organizations for her major and grad school options, internships ect? Just some other ways to help get info for comparision. Good luck!</p>